Sunday, November 30, 2008

I am in Oregon right now enjoying the unusual 60 degree weather they are having for this time of year. Celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents, sisters and their husband/boyfriends. Had a great dinner and we were not in shortage of desserts! We had pecan pie, pumpkin pie, butter tarts and a cherry/pineapple upside down cake which is to die for!

Am enjoying the Christmas bazaar shopping and getting great treasures to bring home for my many craft projects that are stirring about in my head. We'll see if these come to fruition before or after the Christmas holiday! It depends on how much of a superwoman I can be when I get home to decorate the house for the holidays!

Here is a picture of me, my mom and sisters at Christmas in the Barn in Shedd, Oregon. It had a lot of treasures here that I am bringing home with me and I can't wait to put them out for the decorations of the season! I found some old vintage black ice skates that will be adorned "Rochelle" style and my most favorite of finds is this old vintage Santa that you see posing with us! Can't wait to sit him out on my front porch and here him beckon "Ho....Ho....Ho.....!"

And, while my sisters and dad were at the Civil War football game at OSU, my mom and I had another day of shopping at some Christmas bazaars in Lebanon and Brownsville. Oh.....so many treasures but not enough room in my vehicle to take home! I did find a red lamp that is coming home with me as well as some old silver spoons, old silver trays, old silver candlesticks, etc. that will be part of my "projects to come". But, the funniest thing that happened at the end of this day was.......when my mom realized that she did not have the keys to get into the house....

And I had to do this......

And this......

And this.....

To get into the house so we could enjoy our "quiet" time and movie and BIG homemade turkey sandwiches before the rest of the family returned from the football game. OSU lost....:(.....there will be no Rose Bowl for them this year......

Before the day started with craft bazaars, football and escapades, our day started off with a great breakfast out (veggie omelet) and coffee....me and my dad.....

Also saw these at the Vintage Roost sale in Albany and am going to commission my dad the welder to make some in the future for his most favorite daughter!

Friday, November 21, 2008

Today I spent the day with my youngest daughter Rebeckah. The mission for today was to look for a prom/grad dress, and to just try on different styles and colors because she wasn't sure what she wanted. So, we were off to Abbotsford to try on dresses! And, there weren't many in her size so we tried on what they had. First dress, a no - Second dress, a no - Third dress, wrong color - and then the lady who was helping us came in and said a dress just came into the shop in her size and it was the style she liked, and.......the color was perfect!

So, without further adieu here is the prom dress she loved......

These pictures don't do the dress justice because the color is a rich iridescent green and it shimmers....

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Today I pretended I was the host of Divine Design in my daughter's apartment. As you can see from the before photos, an intervention of the "divine" decorating type was needed! I guess living with me for the past 20 years didn't seem to rub off on her and help was needed!

Surprisingly most of this stuff came from our local neighborhood home store RONA and of course my favorite.....Home Sense!

I made out on some good deals when supplying this room with its look. Linens and Things is going out of business so I got some of the pillows and the ultrasuede slipcovers from there on sale. The curtains came from Pier 1. All the other pillows, lamp, table, etc. came from Home Sense. I just love turning something ordinary into the extraordinary! Maybe I missed my calling and should have been an interior designer......oh well, until then I will just enjoy decorating for myself and others.

I hope when I make my "surprise" visit back to her apartment that it looks the same as this and the messiness doesn't creep back into this room where it is NOT INVITED!

Friday, November 14, 2008

This week I have been busy creating gifts for Christmas presents. I have been having fun creating keepsakes for certain people that I hope that they will like - I can't post them because they frequent this blog!

I am getting excited for the Christmas season as we might have our first snowfall today - the sky outside looks like that "i'm gonna snow" type color and I'm looking forward to the white stuff. Only because I don't have to drive anywhere today and I can stay in my nice warm and cozy house!

I also can't wait to start decorating for the season - I can hear my boxes calling me downstairs to let them out of their cold dark place. But, I have shown restraint, even though every store that I go into has their decorations up, I will wait until after the last weekend of November. It will be hard, but I will stand strong and do it!

This past week I met my daughter in her town and we went "makeover" shopping. I had her pick out a pair of curtains for her living room and we took the colors and pattern from that and went forth to find the rest of the items for her apartment living room makeover. The color scheme is brown and sage green and terra cotta red. On Sunday morning I will make the drive out to her place and we will makeover her living room. I am excited to see the change (anything would be better than what is in there now!) and I will post before and after pictures of the room. I hope it all comes together as have imagined in my mind.

I will end this post with a cute little picture from my visit to Italy this past summer.....these porta-poddies were at the antique flea market in Arezzo. Aren't they just the cutest?!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Saw this in Pier 1 and had plans for it.....plans to adorn the top of my piano, but in a more extravagant way. So, a little bit of paint, crackle medium, glitter, glue and accessories, and a birdie, made for a really special centerpiece.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Remember this empty space in my living room and what it was being saved for? Well, this past week the final touches were added and my "Candelabra de Cortona" is finally finished! It now is the crowning glory to my living room and at night it casts a magical glow for all to see. I am very pleased with the way it turned out and can't stop staring at it! See for yourself.....

Wall before.....

Wall after......All aglow....

A vision of loveliness.....

Many of the crystals we made in Sally's workshop have been embedded with photos of my grandmother and some of my great-grandfather - it is a bit of an "heirloom" with all the added cameos, jewelry, etc. belonging to my grandmother and a pocket watch belonging to my grandfather. All the glass crystals have been backed with old photos of my grandma, great-grandfather, and even myself when I turned 1 years old. Other little trinkets were found at the huge outdoor antique market in Arezzo, Italy. The fabrics were some of my grandmothers, some vintage tablecloth material, and some antique fabrics found at the antique market as well. I just love the antique look of this one-of-a-kind creation that was created with love and care - I will cherish it for a long time and hope that my children will cherish the history of it when I am gone......

And take a look at this beauty too - she was purchased on ebay and now adorns my home with her wonderful red crinoline!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

I've added another item to my workspace......it is a tin tile memo board. I had purchased this tin tile piece off of ebay and just recently had it framed at Michaels. It now will hold some inspirations and noteworthy notes.....

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Now that our middle daughter has moved out to be closer to the university she attends, I was able to make her room into a guest room. We gave her the big queen bed that she had and opted to get an antique bedroom set from one of my parents' friends who was selling it. The set is still missing one more highboy dresser that is still at my parents house because I couldn't fit everything into my expedition - that will be coming home with me at Thanksgiving time when I go visit them.

Here is a view before when it was my daughter's room......

And with the wave of a wand it is now a guest room.....

Some added decorations in the room.....this is another find from HomeSense....

And this I found in an etsy shop....love it, love it, love it!!

Up close......

And these are another find from HomeSense.....there are two of them and they were both different colors (one ivory, one green).....so with a little paint and antiquing medium, voila, they are sporting the color of choice for the room - deep cornflower blue!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Finally the chandelier is taking shape.....just a few more panels to go and then I can start adorning it with all the crystals we made and all the other antique finds that we found at the antique flea market in Arezzo, Italy. I can't wait till it is finished!

From a mere skeleton......

To a pretty red-themed chandy......

More panels of the cheery red material - this was part of an apron I found at the flea market in Arezzo.....